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Just what the doctor ordered

Any money that goes towards local soccer is always welcome and the move by the government to grant HK$500,000 to each of the three district teams in the First Division next season was widely hailed. The government - the Home Affairs Bureau, to be exact - must be applauded for the initiative which members of the Tai Po, Tuen Mun and newly promoted Sham Shui Po district teams couldn't believe until they were convinced the money would soon be in the bank.

On many occasions, we have thrown brickbats at the government. But this time it needs to be congratulated for a scheme that has a lot of merit. And what's more, it will be an annual event, resulting in the district clubs having some financial security knowing they can expect funds every year. On the surface, this gesture might seem nothing more than a helping hand to the impoverished district teams, who can only look on in envy as big-spending South China and Kitchee lavishly rule the roost.

South China are estimated to have spent around HK$15 million on the local league last season, plus another equivalent sum on their unsuccessful campaign in the AFC Cup, much of it to acquire high-profile duo Nicky Butt and Mateja Kezman. Compared with that largesse, half a million from the government is peanuts. Yet, it is a start. A sum of HK$5 million has been set aside by the government to encourage soccer at district level next season. While the three teams in the First Division get HK$500,000 each, the other sides spread across the second and third divisions will get between HK$200,000 and HK$250,000 each.

Promoting soccer is the number one reason, but the government also hopes this will encourage communities from Tuen Mun to Tai Po to become united as one family behind their soccer team. 'We want to create a feel-good factor within the community and sports is a great way to achieve this,' says Jonathan McKinley, deputy secretary for Home Affairs, who has been impressed with the growing support teams like Tai Po generated last season.

It was only 18 months ago when virtually everyone got behind the Hong Kong team on their way to winning a gold medal at the East Asian Games. It felt great. Hong Kong was united. If communities across the New Territories can do this on a weekly basis, it will go a long way towards fighting social ills that face councillors and village elders in many districts.

As Wilson Wong Wai-shun, a director at the Hong Kong Football Association, pointed out, the move to fund the teams was also politically motivated with the government using it to get leverage with the districts. Wong is right, politics and sports do mix, and in this case the government is hoping to create a healthy atmosphere throughout the districts.

'The government wants teenagers to be involved in sport and support their district teams. In this way, hopefully, many of the youth problems can be solved. This is more than sport - it is a way to solve social ills,' says Wong. There is no harm in having aims other than just sport. If this truly helps a community to come together, then who are we to complain about ulterior motives?

To smooth the way, the government is also pushing local bodies in charge of the facilities to give priority to the clubs who have had to share grounds with the public. In places like Tuen Mun, the demand for grounds will ease when a new facility for soccer is opened near the public pier.

McKinley, an ardent soccer fan, dreams of the day when thousands of 'home' fans in the districts welcome teams like South China, and travel to other districts to support their team. 'We are trying to create a system where the fans will be made aware of what is going on. In the past, fixtures were haphazard with games being played mid-week and no one knowing they were on. Now, what we want is for all games to be played only on the weekend, so fans can plan well in advance,' McKinley said.

While welcoming the government's helping hand, Kitchee boss Ken Ng Kin hoped the money would be used by the district teams to raise playing standards and to get good coaching staff. 'The biggest problem facing Hong Kong football is the decline in the quality of the game. Coaches' education is the number one problem as local coaches are lacking in modern football knowledge and coaching ability,' he says.

At the end of the day, the fans will turn up only if they know they will be entertained. If all they get is boring, long-ball soccer, the youth of Sham Shui Po would rather meet up at the video arcade. But this is a start. Every journey needs a first step, as McKinley is fond of saying, and this is that first step. Half-a-million might not sound a lot, but if used wisely by the districts, it could be the catalyst to spark the game's revival.

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